Churchill County says COVID-19 tests come back negative

The Churchill County Commission gave an update on the COVID-19 virus and passed a Declaration of Emergency at a special meeting Tuesday afternoon.

Before the meeting, county manager Jim Barbee said he received an email from the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services which he called “good news.”

“We’ve had In Churchill County 12 tests administered, 11 of those have been negative and one is pending,” Barbee said, adding he knows of no other tests in the county.

Commission chairman Pete Olsen said the county has reduced the number of people in the various office and running with a skeleton crew.

Olsen added the county, after seeing other communities and businesses declare an emergency, decided to bring a resolution to the commissioners. After Olsen read the declaration, commissioners voted 3-0 to approve.

Commissioner Harry “Bus" Scharmann sits on the Hospital Board. He said Banner Churchill Community Hospital has a good procedure of testing and screening people separately, and he said hospital personnel hope they can screen a person in a vehicle if he or she calls ahead.

Additionally, Scharmann said hospital personnel are taking precautions.

For example, if a patient is staying in the hospital, Scharmann said only one visitor at a time is allowed.

“I'm satisfied that they, along with other entities in the county, are doing their jobs,” he said. “I feel pretty good about that.”